Thoughts on Hands on a Hardbody

I was very grateful to receive a comp to last night's preview performance of Hands on a Hardbody.  Since it's so early in previews, I'm sure there are a lot of changes being made, so I'll only mention a few thoughts.  I definitely want to go back, once the show has opened, to see how the production has changed (if it does), so I think that's a good sign.  :)
I knew the musical was based on a documentary, but I've never seen the documentary and I didn't know how it played out.  I also knew the music was composed by Trey Anastasio of Phish, but I don't really know Phish music, so I went into the show pretty blind.  Though I'm already a big fan of bookwriter Doug Wright and lyricist Amanda Green.

Having said all that, I enjoyed myself at Hands on a Hardbody.  I do think the musical is inherently a tough nut to crack, since the action is basically static.  The fact that the show works at all is kind of a miracle.  The characters are all trying to win a truck by keeping their hands on it.  Whoever can keep their hand on the truck the longest is the winner, so we're basically just watching people standing around a truck.  Happily, interesting staging, especially when moving the truck around, helps keep things moving.  Plus, I became very engaged in these characters, so that kept me interested as well.  I felt like I knew these people and I really became invested in who would win the truck.

I'll admit, though, it was a little strange listening to everyone sing their "I Want" song, since we already know what they want - the truck.  So the songs become "Why I Want" songs, which are fine (and some were quite moving), but also became a tad repetitive.  Though the music and lyrics throughout are really good, a lot of the songs were internally too long, in my opinion.  I got the point of several of the character songs well before they finished.

The actors are all terrific, with a special shout out to Hunter Foster, Keith Carradine and Keala Settle.  The bluesy-country-folky-rock music was great (I'll definitely be buying the cast album), and it was nice seeing a show about all different classes of people, and each character was written with respect.  There were a couple of plot points which felt rushed to me, but I can understand why they're in there.  All in all, I guess the show feels a little too long to me at the moment, but I'm sure things will tighten up as previews continue.  But there's a strong core and excellent work happening already.  I look forward to going back...